Machine for breaking and softening feathers



May 11 1 5. 1,583,822

= YRFFE, Now KNOWN AS 5. JAFFE MACHINE FOR BREAKING AND SOFTENING FEATHERS Filed Sept. 17 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR A ORNEY May 11 ,1926. 1,583,822

S. YAFFE, NOW KNOWN AS 8. JAFFE MACHINE FOR BREAKING AND SOFTENING FEATHERS Filed Sept. 17 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 M WWW,

Patented May 11, 1926.

I UNITED STATES PATENT QFFLC s.

A NQW KNOWN. ss ne as. DE R IT MICHIGAN- MACHINE FOB. BREAKING ANDSOFTENING FEATfi-ER$.

' Applicationfiled September. 17, 1925.. SeriatNo. 56,937.

This; invention relates to means for reducing large and coarsefl ght feathers to short, pliable pieces, wh ch mayserveas sub stitutes for the ,finerand: softer feathers now employed for filling pillows" and similar It further consists of any 1 desired .number. of pairs of rolls adapted to receivethefsef tened feathers and pieces from the breaking mechanism and to flatten the stalks and quills to render them pliable, and meansito drive'one roll of each. pair. at a faster sun face speed than the other. in order. toproduce the desired effect. It further. consists of the details of construction illustrated; in.

the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic viewv of an installation for softening feaths ers, embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation of they breaker. Fig. 3 .is asection onthe line 3-31of: Fig. 2. F igt is a perspectiveof abreaker pin. Fig. 5. is. 311,816?

vation of several .rollcasings. Fig. & is a partial section ofthe cylindrical portion. of thefeather sorter. Fig. 7 is a detail thereof. r Fig. 8 is. a detail of thebreaker and Fig; 9 is a section on the line 9.-9 of Fig.

8. Fig. 10 is an end elevation of a. set of rolls and Fig. 11. is vertical sectionthe-reof within the housing. Fig. 12 is a partial cross section of thebreaker drum. Fig. 13 is a step bearing for the main shaft of the breaker drum.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The coarser. feathers ofv ducks and geese;

and nearly all chicken feathers. are used to a very limitedextent at, the present. time. be; cause they lack the softness. and pliability demanded in feathers used as fillers of pillows and cushions. stalks of these feathers. render themvery objectionable and practically, useless for such purpose, but I have found that by breaking these coarse feathers and by separating the vaneorfringe fromthe stalk as far as posspace to soften the.

The heavy quills and ibl and y flat e ng h se-piec alk to wh clrthe fringe is still attached, I am able to. produce a soft, springy material.

which approaches prime. goose feat-hers in quality.

I have foundthatsuch a largeportion of chicken feathers are-benefitechby, the process carr ed outby my apparatulsthat it; is not advisableto attempt to separate the fine feathersfrom the coarser. I prefer however. to grade duck and geese feathers by means of an a r blast 'wh ch carries the lightera'nd finer down feathersalong fan hest fl' l; -h8 blower. anddeposits the hear ier feathers at lesser and diminishing distanoes so that itis anyeasy matter to gather up those consideredtoo hea y ferii ei ihe raw state, these feathers being fed into my present. apparatus. to be broken and softened.

The device for 'gradingfeathers is, indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 1,-and con- .sists of a housing 1 having feed chutes or hoppers 2 and;3. The discharge spouts at and 5 are provided with gates. to determine the.

direction ofdischarge, the "feathers. to be I graded being. fed into thespout 8, car.I-'i.l along by, the rapidly rotating cylinder 6, I I

which turns counter clockwise; in F iorpl der.

as may have become matted.- i The cylinder 6 rotates at highspeechwhen grading feathers, about 120013 P. M. being proper for. an 18 inch cylinder.

and being. discharged through the spout; a, with theblastfof air producedby the oylin g The teeth on. the cylinder, pass through the notchesS in the sides '9iof. the, spouts. and. serve. to separate. such feathers The feed ing peed maybe about 25012., P, M,

The feathers. o be softened are. fed intov the hopper. 2 andthe cylinder being rotated.

clockwise, are carried along the spout 5 to the breaker. Doors, 4 and 5 control the blastiineither direction.

The breaker consists of a. vertical drum 10. mounted onga shaft 11 which may -be. s up portedby astep bearing of any desired type, the cup 12 and ball 13 being shown in Fig.

13. Any desiredmeans maybe employed to rotate. this shaft, gears 14 and; shaft 15being shown. The drum isprovided with a series of circumferential rowsof pins or fingers .16, preferably semi-cylindrical, which pass between the circumferential rows of pinsor I fingers "17. extending'inwardly from the shell 18. This shellis made of any desired num-. ber of, sectionsand is provided ithan upperhead 19 which supports a hub 20 in which the shaft 11 is rotatable. If desired, another bearing 22 may be provided for this shaft.

- The chute 5 connects to this upper head to discharge into the space between the drum and shell, and a pipe 23 is also connected into this head to conduct steam to the shell. The upper head 24 of the drum is provided with holes (not shown) to permit the steam to enter the drum and the steam passes out through the holes 25 between the breaker pins (Fig. 8) t0 the feathers being broken by these pins. The stalks of the moistened feathers are more easily broken and the fringe is more readily torn therefromby the breaker pins than when the feathers are'dry, probably because the moistened feathers adhere to these pins sufiiciently to permit such breaking and stripping. The stalks or quills are usually broken across. Only sufiicient steam to dampen the feathers is admitted. The condensed steam drips down to the lower head 28 of the shell and is drawn on through a pipe 27. The lower head 30 of the drum is formed with holes 7 0 to permit the water to escape, and is also formed with a flange 29 which nearly contacts with the inner wall of the shell and thus prevents the feathers from falling to the lower head 28 of the shell.

A discharge spout 31 connects to the shell just above the flange 29 to conduct the feathers and parts thereof from the shell. While any desired means may be employed to conduct the feathers to the pressing rolls, I prefer to employ an inclined conveyor comprising a belt 35 and cross slats 36 for the reason that it avoids the necessity of having the bottom of the breaker above the rolls, which is often impossible on account of the lack of suflicient height of the rooms where this apparatus is to be used.

The conveyor 35 drops the feathers into a hopper 37 just above a pair of presser rolls 3889, which are driven in any desired manner, a belt pulley 40 being shown. I prefer to drive these rolls at diflerent surface speeds so that the stalks of the feathers will be disintegrated and the pith will be powdered. This can be accomplished by gearing the rolls together by means of the gears 42 and 43 of different sizes, and I prefer that the ratio of the gears shall be about 30 to 4:2. The pressure between the rolls can be regulated by the screws ll which engage the bearings 44: for one of the shafts.

In order that the feathers will not stick and pile up on the rolls I press a wiper 45 of rubber against each roll, the strip of rubber being mounted on a cross bar 46 carried in a guide groove 47 in the casing 48, and the pressure of the wiper on the roll may be adjusted by the'screw 49, positioned central- 1y of the bar 45- Any other desired means may be employed to support and adjust these wipers.

The feathers may pass from the first pair of rolls to a bin 51 through a chute 52 or may pass to a second set of rolls 53-54 through a chute 55, a door 56 being provided to determine the path. The second set of rolls may be identical with the first, but I prefer to have them adjusted somewhat closer so as to put a heavier pressure on the feathers, which pass from these rolls to the bin 57 through a chute '58, or to the fan 59,

a door 60 being provided to determine the path.

After the feathers in the form of fringe and short lengths of stalks and quills leave the lower rolls and pass through the fan 59, they are blown out thereby and fall from the current of air, the short lengths of the quills and stalks falling together near the fan, the heavier feather parts next thereafter and the finest parts farthest from the fan. This eliminates the hard and stifi portions and the small drops of fat that are found at the ends of the quills and attract insects or become rancid.

The details of construction may all be changed by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the following claims. Thus a second steam pipe 62 may be attached to the bottom 28 of the casing 18 should a larger amount of moisture be desired.

I claim 1. In a machine for breaking and flattening feathers, means to moisten the feathers and break them, a pair of rolls and means to convey the feathers from the breaker to the rolls, said rolls being driven at different sur face speeds so as to disintegrate the stalks of the feathers, a wiper contacting with each roll to prevent the feathers being carried around thereby, and means to adjust the wipers.

2. In a machine for breaking and flatteningfeathers, a vertical cylindrical casing having rows of inwardly projecting pins, a vertical drum within the casing provided with outwardly projecting pins extending between the pins on the casing, means to rotate the drum, means to feed feathers to the upper end of the space between the drum and easing, means to convey the feathers from the lower end of such space, and means to conduct water vapor to the casing.

3. In a machine for breaking and flattening feathers, a vertical cylindrical casing having rows of inwardly projecting pins, a vertical drum within the casing provided with outwardly projecting pins extending between the pins on the casing, means to rotate the drum, means to feed feathers to the upper end of the space between the drum and casing, means to convey the feathers from the lower end of such space, means to conduct water vapor to the casing, and means to drain condensed water from the lower end of the casing, the lower head of the casing being bulged downward to collect such water.

4. In a machine for breaking and flatten ing feathers, a vertical cylindrical casing having rows of inwardly projecting pins, a vertical drum within the casing provided with outwardly projecting pins extending between the pins on the casing, means to rotate the drum, means to feed feathers to the upper end of the space between the drum and easing, means to convey the feathers from the lower end of such space, and means to then flatten and grind the feathers 5. In a machine for breaking and flattening feathers, a cylindrical casing having rows of inwardly projecting pins, a cylindrical drum within the casing provided with rows of outwardly projecting pins alternating with the rows of pins int-he casing, means to blow feathers into one end-of the space between the drum and shell, means to moisten the feathers within such space, and means to rotate the drum. 7

6. In a machine for breaking and flattening feathers, a cylindrical casing having rows of inwardly projecting pins, a cylindrical drum within the casing provided with rows of outwardly projecting pins alternating with the rows of pins in the casing, means to blow feathers into one end of the space between the drum and shell, means to means to rotate the drum, a conveyor to receive the feathers from the opposite end of said space, and a pair of rolls to press the feathers" Y 7. In a machine for breakingand flattening feathers, a cylindrical casing having rows of inwardly projecting pins, a cylindrical drum within the casing provided with rows of outwardly projecting pins alternating with the rows of pins in the casing, means to blow feathers into one end of the space between the drum and shell, means to moisten the feathers within such space, means to rotate thedrum, a conveyor to receive the feathers from the opposite end of said space, and a pair of rolls to press the feathers, said rolls being 7 driven to have different surface speeds so as to disintegrate the stalks of the feathers 8. In a machine for breaking and flattening feathers, a vertical cylindrical casing having rows of inwardlyvprojecting pins, a

vertical drum within the casing provided with outwardly projecting pins extending between the pins on the casing, means to rotate the drum, means to feed feathers to the upper end of the space between the drum and casing, and means to convey the feathers from the lower end of such space, said pins on the drum and casing being substantially semicylindrical with their faces in axial planes, those on the drum all facing in one direction and those on the casing facing in the opposite direction.

' SIMCHA YAFFE. 

